FRANCE'S GARDEN

Some say the Loire Valley offers the most prototypical of all French landscapes: an inviting buffet of vineyards, mighty castles, lush forests, little white cottages and fields of flowers everywhere. Will the riders notice? Those who aren't hellbent on winning the three sprints might take a gander at this feast for the eyes.

TOPOGRAPHY

The route starts on the back roads of the Vendée, then heads northeast into the Loire. Save for an early climb near Pouzauges and a couple of more short but fairly steep ones around Chinon about 100 miles out, the terrain is flat. The final 18 miles have many twists and turns before the stage ends on the almost two-mile straightaway of the Avenue Grammont in Tours, where the Paris-Tours classic finishes every fall.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Another nervous, edgy day in the main pack of riders is guaranteed because the fresh-legged lads are still feeling frisky.
Lance Armstrong
's teammates must be at their most vigilant, protecting the boss from harm as the green party roars along. The polka-dot pretenders will be itching to get on the scoreboard, too.

FAVORITESWatch Robbie McEwen (Australia and Davitamon-Lotto) and Thor Hushovd (Norway and Crédit Agricole). But keep an eye on Baden Cooke (Australia and Francaise des Jeux), a former points champion who's on the comeback trail after treating a gluten allergy that had dragged him down.

TOUR LORE

La Châtaigneraie is the home of the former French champion and eight-time Tour participant
Roland Berland
.

EN ROUTE

La Châtaigneraie (population 3,000):
One of eight new stops on this Tour, the town occupies a lovely forested setting on the edge of the Vendée.

Tours (population 130,000): Laden with history, this old Roman outpost evolved into a major center of learning during the Middle Ages and today serves as gateway to the Loire's Chateau country.

IN BETWEEN

The cyclists will roll past some of the world's most photographed castles, including Chinon, made famous by
Joan of Arc
's encounter with Charles VII in February 1429, and the magnificent Azay-le-Rideau near Tours. Sache, which is 15 miles west of Tours, was the childhood home of the writer Balzac.

HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE

In the fourth century, Tours was the home of
St. Martin
, the most powerful of Gaul's bishops. It was his tomb (he died in 397) that attracted a sickly young deacon named Gregory to the area in 563, seeking a miraculous cure. One was delivered, so he settled in Tours, became the city's bishop and went on to write prolifically about his age. Gregory's
History of the Franks,
among many other books, provides us with most of what we know about the Merovingian dynasty, the line of French kings so central to the story line in
The Da VinciCode.

SUR LA TABLE

Plat du jour —
Tours is known for its
rillettes
, a dish in which the melted fat of pigs kidneys and strips of pork are cooked together with herbs and spices. Also can be served cool as a pâté.

Fromage — Crottin de Chavignol, a small round goat cheese whose white surface hardens and blackens with age. Fully ripe, it can be pungent, hence the 300-year-old practice of sending the cheese to market rolled in ash or wrapped in hay.

Grand vins — Touraine, a fresh tangy Sauvignon Blanc with a refreshing bite. Also Vouvray, which shows the best of the Chenin Blanc grape — and the worst, too, in the hands of the region's all too many bad ones.